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In the Brexit dispute, the European Union is taking legal action against Britain for violating the EU Withdrawal Treaty. In the end, there could be proceedings before the Court of Justice and a hefty fine.
By Ralph Sina, ARD-Studio Brussels
On September 10, the EU had given Britain an ultimatum. Prime Minister Boris Johnsons should eliminate the passages on Northern Ireland and Ireland in his internal market law, stressed the president of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen. The London government should give up the claim that British rules and regulations of the game will apply in Northern Ireland in the future, unless there is still a trade deal with the EU.
The commission gave Johnson until Sept. 30 to act. But the deadline passed. The prime minister let the ultimatum expire and stood firm. The Irish passages, which are problematic from an EU perspective, remained in the bill. A majority in the British House of Commons approved the draft on Tuesday.
Sanctions could threaten
From the point of view of the EU Commission, the law in its previous form is a violation of the obligation of “good faith” established in the exit agreement, von der Leyen said. It clearly violates the agreement signed by the British that the EU internal market rules and the EU customs union continue to apply in Northern Ireland so that there is no hard border dividing the Irish island. In reality, the passage was intended to avoid the danger of a new civil war in Northern Ireland.
That is why the EU Commission decided this morning to send a so-called “formal notification letter” to the London government. He asks the Johnson administration for their opinion within a month. This letter from the EU Commission is the first step in an infringement procedure against Great Britain, which may lead to a lawsuit before the Court of Justice of the European Communities and the imposition of fines.
Although the British have already left the EU, criminal proceedings against them before the Court of Justice of the European Union are still possible, stressed the chairman of the EU Parliament’s Trade Committee, Bernd Lange, at ARD. “This possibility will continue to apply for four years, even if Britain is no longer in the domestic market and in the EU customs union,” he said.
Is Johnson provoking with intention?
The dispute over the British Internal Market Act is also loading the final phase of the ninth round of negotiations on a future trade agreement between the EU and Britain, which will take place in Brussels tomorrow.
EU MP Lange sees the Single Market Act as an attempt by Johnson to provoke the EU and pressure it into a last-minute deal that would make this law superfluous. But if Johnson’s tactics fail, a conflict between Brussels and London threatens before the ECJ, and the Irish island a hard border.
